Dusk Adventures

Chelsea grinned inwardly as she focused intently on her opponents every move. Side step right, lunge forward, spin to the left, and checkmate!

"Gotcha!" she cried triumphantly as her sword decapatated her opponent with a fatal swoosh. Glancing up, Chelsea was met by two pairs of familiar eyes. The first, belonging to her dear mother, were frozen open and Amelia wondered how those crystal orbs did not simply pop out. The second pair of eyes on the other hand were identical to Chelsea's own chocolate orbs. They belonged to her father and after a few seconds, his cold, disappointed gaze drifted back to his own plate. Chelsea shrugged before impaling her vanquished foe, a piece of broccoli, with her trusty sword, a glimmering fork, and popping the delicious opponent into her mouth.

"Done!" she announced, picking up her almost empty plate in a fluid motion. Dashing into the kitchen, Chelsea deposited the remnants of her meal, a few abominable peas, into the garbage and placed her plate onto the kitchen counter. With a quick peck on her mother's check and a salute to her father, Chelsea threw on a pair of boots and disappeared out the door. She could practically feel her parents' sigh of relief as she left and although Chelsea told herself over and over that she did not care, a small piece of her broke.

Shaking off her grief, Chelsea skipped down the deserted street. It took all of her will power not to peak into the lit windows and see what her neighbors were having for dinner, but Chelsea had learned the hard way a few years ago that most people do not appreciate looking up to find a face peering into their houses. Chelsea giggled mischievously to herself as memories of Mrs. Pamper's horrified face flashed in her mind.

Rounding the corner, Chelsea shook her head and decided to give the residents of District One a bit of peace. After all, she had caused enough of a ruckus early that morning when her epic adventure encountered a few "mishaps" that may or may not have included a small fire. With a squeal of glee, Chelsea clapped her hands and darted up to one of her favorite hiding spots: a large oak at the edge of the district.

While most of the trees around District One had been tamed and hacked away at until they were shaped to perfection, Chelsea's tree grew wild and unrestrained in its forgotten corner. Kicking off her boots, Chelsea took a running start before jumping as high as she could and grasping the low hanging branches. Calling out her training as a Career, Chelsea shimmied her way onto the branch and grinned triumphantly as she reclined across the warm bark and admired the darkening skies.

Stellan noticed a girl around his age seeming to have fun playing around on the branches. As the "party pooper" he has shown, he decides to tell her to get down. "You know that's dangerous." he suggested. After doing so, Stellan decides to join the girl in her fun, and sits under the tree. He looked up and saw the beautiful sky as the sun rose and the stars set ever so lightly off the deep blue and red. He never knew that you could see the transition between night and day. It had been something he'd never even thought of seeing, but now that he had, he loved it. Maybe this girl was to be his friend. He'd need one, specifically female, if he were to be reaped soon.

Just as Chelsea finally got each of her muscles relaxed and her mind began to drift farther into her own world, the sound of an intruder jolted her awake. Peering down at the stranger, Chelsea turned her head to the side, wondering how someone else discovered her secret lair.

"You know that's dangerous," he spoke, breaking the silence and Chelsea immediately had the urge to hiss at the stranger. This was her tree and she did not appreciate his implications.

"Don't listen to him, you're not dangerous at all!" she murmured softly to the large tree that had become her shelter whenever her parents' disapproving gazes took a toll on her. As the strange boy made himself comfortable under her tree, Chelsea's eyes lit up with mischief as the first rays of dawn tickled her fingertips. Rotating her hips so that her feet dangled from the safety of the branch, Chelsea pointed her big toe so that it stared accusingly at her unexpected visitor.

"And you are?" Chelsea questioned, purposefully making her voice higher than usual and swinging her toe around slightly as if it were speaking. Just as she hit the word "are" and attempted to draw the last syllabol out as long as possible, Chelsea burst into a fit of giggles and once more swung her body over the branch. At the position, the top half of her body hung free off of the branch so that she could examine the mysterious boy. As her bright pink hair dangled free and her upside down grin gleamed with the first rays of the slowly rising sun, Chelsea gave the boy a cheeky wink.

"Catch me!" she cried gleefully before releasing her hold on the tree branch.

Was she crazy!? This girl must have been. Stellan had never met a more energetic, bubbly, adventurous (so it seemed), person like her! Let alone, with the reaping coming, she seemed so... happy? Did she not have a right? She couldn't be older than him... Could she? Maybe she'd tell him if he would ask. "You're excited I see," Stellan said. The girl fell into his arms, and he held her. Hopefully she wouldn't be using his arms as branches to walk on. However, she was getting good practice for the Games.. Was that what she was doing? Who knew.

While most people would not be so happy on a morning so close to the Reaping and they certainly would not blindly fall from a tree into a stranger's arms, Chelsea was not concerned by those matters at all. Instead she was concerned about the strange boy currently holding her. He still had not answered any of her questions and Chelsea was beginning to wonder if he was even human.

Making herself comfortable, Chelsea gave the boy's arm a light pinch, "Sorry, just making sure you're not a robot!" Satisfied that he was in fact human, Chelsea gave the top of his head a light pat before pointing a finger at him. With her index finger only a few centimeters from his face, Chelsea decided to use her most "commanding" voice.

"Now, who are you and why are you trespassing into my kingdom?" she questioned, unable to keep the small smile off of her face and the mischief out of her eyes, both of which she feared would compromise her plan to intimidate her new perch. Pursing her lips, Chelsea eyed the boy and tapped her chin thoughtfully. Perhaps she had already intimidated her with her impressive tree-climibing ability and she needed to introduce herself first.

"I'm Chelsea, queen of this tree!" she added before holding her hand out in a peace offering.

Stellan was no morning person, he was more of an afternoon, mid-day type of guy. Besides that he didn't really talk much, not even at home. Therefore, he didn't really have anything to say. He didn't really know what to say. This girl was so ecstatic, he decided to play a long.. a little bit.

After she pinched his arm he showed no resistance, trying to show his "manliness" or whatever you want to call it. "Stellan Grey, proud son of the Grey Kingdom." he replied. When she outstreched her hand, he grabbed it and moved his other arm from beneath her, hoping that she would land safely on her feet.

Chelsea had not thought ahead of time and just as she realized that the boy, who had finally introduced himself as Stellan, would need to move one of his arms and they were both currently occupied holding her up. With a soft umf Chelsea landed awkwardly on the ground, her hand clutching Stellan's from their not-well-thought-out handshake and the rest of her body laying in the soft grass. Chelsea was tempted to wail about a broken finger nail or some other trivial thing that most of the girls her age in District One were preoccupied with. Deciding not to confuse the poor boy too much, after all they had only just met, she opted to give him a lopsided grin before snatching her hand back. Doing her very best ninja roll, Chelsea lept to her feet and puffed out her chest.

"Well very nice to meet you, good sir Stellan" she grumbled, holding a finger up as if it were a dignified mustache. Stifling a smile before it could disrupt her composure, Chelsea saluted Stella before turning on her heel. She made sure to keep him in her peripheral vision, not completely convinced that he was human. Pausing to contemplate her next move, Chelsea noticed that while they had been in their own little world of awkward introductions, the rest of District One had begun to stir as dawn approached. A sly grin slowly spread across her face as she realized that the rising sun meant a new day and her promise to "stay out of trouble for the rest of the day" no longer technically applied.

With a quick glance over her shoulder at Stellan, whom she already decided would be her friend willingly or unwillingly, Chelsea decided that he did not look like the type to get into mischief. He had barely twitched so far at her antics and she knew that it would take all of her crafty thinking to get him involved in her latest scheme.

"Weeeell I suppose I had better be going, lots of top secret, dangerous, thrilling, and not to mention courageous activities to do," she said, examining her nails as if she were indifferent. Glancing up quickly through her eye lashes, Chelsea wondered if she had caught his attention. "Because only the strongest, bravest, and cutest can survive the dangers of these tasks and I'm sure you wouldn't interested.." she trailed off, barely containing her laughter as she said the word "cutest." Absently whistling and slowly strolling away, Chelsea inwardly crossed her fingers and waited in anticipation to see if Stellan would take her bait. After all, if he was going to unknowingly become her friend, he needed to accompany her on her adventures!